Editor’s Note: “On a Just Path” is a series of stories about former JCUA employees, where they are now and the impact JCUA had on them. Interviews were conducted and edited by Nathaniel Seeskin, AVODAH Organizing Fellow at JCUA.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs

Q. When were you at JCUA and what was your position?

A. I had the pleasure of working for JCUA from 2003 to the end of 2005 in the position of Director of Outreach and Education.

Q. Tell us about your time at JCUA.

A. My role was to lead the Outreach and Education Department at a time when JCUA was exploring deliberate ways to reach out to the Jewish community. JCUA had a longstanding strength in working in low-income communities, but there was a renewed interest in organizing within the Jewish community. We had an incredible team of people who were and still are very dedicated to the Jewish community and social justice. Our work at JCUA at that time included:

Organizing the Jewish community to work with day laborers in Albany Park to create a day labor center, partnering with public housing tenants to stop the demolition of Cabrini-Green and raising concerns about the fates of tenants, and working to support hotel workers during the Congress Hotel strike. We built a strong social justice voice within the Jewish community in Chicago.

Running the Judaism and Urban Poverty (JUP) curriculum, one of JCUA’s hallmark programs at the time. We initiated the Nadiv Fellowship, through which dedicated young people in their twenties and early thirties studied Judaism and social justice and then taught the JUP curriculum to seventh graders in synagogues through Chicago and in the suburbs.

Creating the Jewish Muslim Community Building Initiative (JMCBI) and partnering with the Chicago’s Muslim community on programs like ‘Iftar in the Sukkah’ and ‘Cafe Finjan’.

Running social justice trainings and public programming in synagogues and other venues. For instance, we held a full-day Jewish social justice learning event for over one hundred people at the Spertus Institute, and we developed a series of community organizing trainings for synagogue leaders.

Q. What impact did your work at JCUA have in the community?

A. We saw the Jewish community become much more invested in doing justice work in Chicago. We saw synagogues thinking about how to organize internally. We saw Jews who were getting deeply involved personally and starting to build community around doing justice work. In April of 2005, we organized a national Jewish Social Justice conference in Chicago. It was the first time that Jewish social justice leaders had come together in recent memory. There were some 200 people and that was really a turning point for the cause of Jewish social justice nationally in seeing itself as a movement and not a group of disparate organizations.

Q. Is this linked to the current Jewish Social Justice Roundtable?

A. That conference is sometimes credited with sparking the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. It was pretty amazing when we looked around and realized there were more than 200 people in the room–we always thought of ourselves as a very small movement! It was several more years before anything coalesced to a Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, but I see the conference as one of the first moments of realizing, collectively, that there was an important role for us on the national scene.

Q. How would you say your work at JCUA impacts what you do now?

A. I direct T’ruah, which is a national rabbinic human rights organization. JCUA was my first position out of rabbinical school. I came out of rabbinical school knowing that I wanted to do social justice and I got very lucky. I’d never heard of JCUA before and I’d been to Chicago maybe once in my life, so it was a real leap of faith for me. Certainly it has led to everything I have done since. I went on to do national work on Jewish social justice at Jewish Funds for Justice (now Bend the Arc). When I realized that as a rabbi, I felt compelled to work both on Israel and on domestic concerns, I was lucky to find my place at T’ruah. I’ve been Executive Director since 2011 (the organization was founded in 2002).

Q. Is there anything else you would like to mention?

A. JCUA has an amazing history as one of the first Jewish social justice organizations. I would also like to note that Rabbi Marx had an incredible influence on me, both in terms of our personal relationship and his writings. As we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Selma, it is amazing that there is an organization that started then which is still around and doing work inspired by that history.

]]>https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/rabbi-jill-jacobs-a-leap-of-faith/feed/0jcuablogOn a Just Path LogoCVP Loans Are Making An Impact Todayhttps://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/cvp-loans-are-making-an-impact-today/
https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/26/cvp-loans-are-making-an-impact-today/#commentsThu, 26 Mar 2015 20:20:38 +0000http://jcuanews.wordpress.com/?p=7394]]>By Sarah GoldJCUA Manager of Community Building

As part of my ‘initiation’ into my new role leading JCUA’s Community Ventures Program (CVP), I had the opportunity to visit and touch base with each of our current projects. Here is a snapshot of how JCUA’s loan fund is being used to make a difference by supporting three essential affordable housing and economic development projects throughout Chicago.

Breaking Ground – Rehabbing of Foreclosed homes

Current redevelopment two-flat project.

Breaking Ground, Inc. is a community-based organization on the west side of Chicago, which provides leadership development, manufacturing job training, and employment in construction and related fields to residents of Lawndale and Garfield Park. Breaking Ground is working to rehabilitate abandoned and foreclosed homes in West Lawndale, Berwyn, Bellwood, Maywood, and Austin. In 2011, JCUA provided a zero-interest loan of $90,000 to support housing redevelopment work.

Interior under construction.

As of today, Breaking Ground has leveraged the CVP loan and is redeveloping and selling 45 homes as follows:

JCUA’s loan is enabling Breaking Ground to continually rehab multiple properties at once. I had the opportunity to visit two homes, one under construction and one under contract to be sold. When visiting with Breaking Ground, Josh DeGraff, Director of Housing stated, “Without the much needed help from the JCUA loan keeping our contractors working we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the great things we have done in the Chicagoland affordable housing community during the past few years. We are very thankful for Breaking Ground’s partnership with JCUA.” Learn more about Breaking Ground.

Gracie’s Café – Employment Training Café of St. Leonard’s Ministries

Gracies Cafe coffee bar and stellar employees.

Gracie’s Café is a social enterprise of St. Leonard’s Ministry (SLM), an organization that provides comprehensive residential, case management and employment development services for formerly incarcerated men and women. Partnering with SLM’s culinary training program, Gracie’s Café was opened in September 2013 to provide individuals with real world, culinary and business experience. In 2013 CVP loaned SLM $50,000 to ensure the steady operating of the business.

Bright, inviting and open interior of Gracie’s Cafe.

Today, walking into Gracie’s Café, you immediately feel welcomed into this bright and inviting space. The employees are friendly and prepare fresh and tasty food. Since opening, thirteen individuals have successfully completed the training program and four individuals work in the café. Of the thirteen who have graduated, ten are employed in places like Pete’s Market, Eataly and Little Miss Muffin. While working at Gracie’s Café, individuals not only get real, hands-on work experience, they get paid while doing it. They are given the necessary tools and support to explore different parts of the culinary industry and ultimately gain full-time employment. Gracie’s Café is a wonderful place to drink a cup of coffee, eat a delicious sandwich, and most of all, support the hard work of these individuals and SLM. Go visit the café at 1517 West Warren today! Learn more about Gracie’s Café.

Mayfair Commons – Affordable Senior Housing in Albany Park

The Mayfair Commons senior building.

The North River Commission’s (NRC) mission is to unite the community to improve the quality of life for all constituents by creating affordable housing, quality education, arts & cultural endeavors, open spaces, and stable neighborhood businesses. As part of a larger community development plan, NRC developed Mayfair Commons in the late 90’s, providing 97 total units of senior, affordable housing. In order to preserve the affordability of the senior housing, NRC requested a predevelopment loan of $100,000 in August of 2014 to help begin the preservation process.

Beautiful and bright community room in Mayfair Commons.

NRC is using the CVP loan to create a redevelopment team and a plan of action for the preservation process. Because this process involves many different players and complex layers of both Federal and State funding sources, it is often difficult to secure early financing at this stage of the project. The CVP loan is enabling NRC to preserve the building’s affordability. When visiting the building, I had the opportunity to meet with Melissa McDaniel, NRC’s Program Director who is leading the way on this complex project. We sat in their beautiful community space while residents wandered in and out of the room, always smiling, and engaging us in conversation. It is clear that Mayfair Commons is creating community and providing much needed, quality, affordable housing for many seniors. Melissa shared that through the preservation process, they hope to update parts of the building, repair the roof and replace many electric and water fixtures with energy efficient models. Learn more about NRC and Mayfair Commons.

This past Thursday, an inspiring group of interfaith clergy and coalition members gathered at the University Church in Hyde Park to urge the University of Chicago to include community input in the trauma center study they have agreed to conduct. This is a crucial next step in the trauma center campaign.

Rabbi Capers Funnye, Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Rev. Alice Harper-Jones, and Rev. Julian DeShazier all spoke to the urgent need for a level I adult trauma center at the University of Chicago. Veronia Morris Moore of Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY) gave a compelling presentation about the trauma “desert” on the south side and the resulting increased chance of death for south siders who are victims of gun violence.

This campaign, which JCUA has worked on for the past several months, speaks to the abject disparity that we tolerate in access to health care in our city. Numerous studies have made the case – first rate teaching hospitals in urban areas all have trauma centers EXCEPT for the University of Chicago. The Illinois Department of Health has found that the University of Chicago is the only hospital on the south side with the capacity for a trauma center, and the community is suffering. While expensive, a trauma center would only require half of one percent of the University of Chicago’s recently-launched 4.5 billion dollar capital campaign. Most recently, Crain’s Chicago Business issued an editorial calling on the University of Chicago to open the level 1 trauma center.

As part of the clergy breakfast, I spoke at the press conference on why this issue resonates deeply with the Jewish community. I was joined at the press conference by Rabbi Capers Funnye and Cantor David Berger. JCUA’s longstanding work is to stand with those whose voices are insufficiently heard, to combat the root causes of inequality and disparity. No one I know believes that access to health care should only be for some and not for others in Chicago, merely because of where you live.

]]>https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/the-community-is-suffering/feed/0jcuablogjudy-clergy-bfast“This is how I became a member of JCore”https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/this-is-how-i-became-a-member-of-jcore/
https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/this-is-how-i-became-a-member-of-jcore/#commentsMon, 09 Mar 2015 21:54:25 +0000http://jcuanews.wordpress.com/?p=7348]]>By Alex LopezJCUA Member and Guest Blogger

Alex Lopez

Hi, I’m Alex and I’m here to recruit you.

I should start with a disclosure. I haven’t been to services in so long that I don’t know the name of my congregation’s current rabbi. My dog understands more Hebrew than I do. I forgot Purim was coming up until I saw hamantaschen recipes in my Facebook feed (and I just now googled how to spell “hamantaschen”). But there are plenty of Jewish groups in Chicago that provide weekly services and Hebrew classes and Purim carnivals. I’m not here to recruit you for that.

I wasn’t always a Jew and I didn’t grow up in Chicago. Upon arrival to both I was astonished at how many different opportunities there were to be part of the Jewish community here. There was the shul shopping and Shabbat dinners and fundraising events until my calendar was fuller than a Cathy comic word bubble. It was such a blessing to be introduced to such a thriving and growing Jewish community. But, I wanted more. As a union organizer in this city I’ve seen a different type of community building. Unfortunately we live in a city where gunshot wound victims die because the nearest hospital won’t care for them. In our city international corporations receive public subsidies while working Chicagoans struggle to make a decent wage. Our school system has shuttered neighborhood schools, enrolling thousands students into schools that are designed to avoid accountability. In all of these instances and more, I’ve seen Chicagoans organize to create a community so powerful that it can make corrupt institutions realize their responsibility to us.

“If you’ve ever seen an injustice in this city but didn’t know who to turn to for help, come to JCore.”

This is how I became a member of JCore. I believe in the power of Jewish community building and the strength of solidarity. For me, it wasn’t enough to organize a Jewish community as if it is separate from the city that it exists in. JCore has given me an opportunity to build stronger ties to the Jewish community and to Chicago’s social justice community. It has made me a better citizen and a better Jew.

But without growth, any community grows stagnant and that is why I am here to recruit you. If you’ve ever seen an injustice in this city but didn’t know who to turn to for help, come to JCore. If you’ve been inspired while at synagogue to heal the world but you didn’t know where to start, come to JCore. If you believe that we build a stronger Jewish community by organizing against injustice in the broader community, come to JCore.

Or, if you want to teach me Hebrew, get me to be more observant, or give me hamantaschen recipes, come to JCore – but know that I’m going to try and recruit you to start healing Chicago.

What is JCore?

For close to a year, JCUA has been building individual membership to support and lead our work. At the January member meeting, 25 JCUA members voted to name this active body within the larger JCUA membership. These engaged members are the “Core Leadership” for JCUA’s issue-based campaign work, thus JCore! JCore members meet monthly to shape and advance our organizing campaigns and build coalitions around Chicago. JCore meetings are open to all members.

Members of the Trauma Care Coalition, a group of students and community activists, block the northbound lanes of Michigan avenue Thursday evening to demand that the University of Chicago provide a Level 1 trauma center for residents on the south side of Chicago. | James Foster/For Sun-Times Media

“Trauma Center Now!”

Last night, the University of Chicago hosted an event at the Ritz Carlton to raise money for its capital campaign. Students, alumni, faculty, and patrons came out to financially support the university. They were not alone.

More than 60 members of the trauma center coalition came from across Chicago to protest, including JCUA. Chanting and marching, we demanded that the university reopen the level 1 trauma center it closed in 1988.

► JCUA’s involvement in the trauma center action could not have been possible without the efforts of its members. You can become a JCUA member by registering here.

Trauma Center Coalition members blocked Michigan Avenue in an act of civil disobedience.

A recent study by the Illinois Department of Public Health identified the University of Chicago Medical Center as the best positioned South Side hospital to operate an adult trauma center. Yet for five years, the university has ignored calls from the community to open one up. Even as they raise $4.5 billion for their capital campaign, the University of Chicago claims they are financially unable to run a trauma center.

The Disruption

Our decision to disrupt was not an easy one. While civil disobedience and disruption are not new for JCUA, some attendees expressed discomfort in undertaking these actions. Nonetheless, we felt it was important to participate as full members of the coalition in this action.

In the lead up to Thursday’s protest, we had conversations with members about their feelings and concerns regarding confrontational tactics. Some members wondered if our approach was too antagonistic towards the University and its donors. How would donors perceive the disruption? Would they be alienated from hearing the message of the campaign? Is it ethical to disturb the peace by crashing an event or blocking the flow of traffic?

I know that many of JCUA’s supporters share similar concerns. I therefore think its important to extend the conversation we had with members to the broader JCUA community.

The value of civil disobedience

Strategically, civil disobedience and disruption are indispensable tools for advancing campaigns. These confrontational tactics are necessary when people with power refuse to listen to the community.

Powerful institutions often think that if they remain unyielding for long enough, they can outlast the efforts of organized communities. They need to know they’re wrong, and nonviolent escalation gets that message across. The coalition’s actions demonstrate our strength and determination, and put more pressure on the University of Chicago to respond to the coalition’s demand for a trauma center.

Confrontational tactics are also important because they garner media attention to our cause. Last night’s protest received coverage from the Chicago Tribune, NBC 5, the Chicago Sun-Times, and several other news services.

The disruption also brought the message of the trauma center campaign into a room designed to insulate people from confronting it. Because of the disruption, the University of Chicago’s supporters heard that a Trauma Center would cost less thanone half of one percent of the money raised in the capital campaign.

Disruption can be framed as antithetical to discussion and engagement. Yet how many more people have heard about the trauma center because of this action? Inside the capital campaign event, some attendees booed our disruptors. Others applauded and joined in on the chants for a trauma center. Our disruptive tactics elevated the discourse, created more discussion, and potentially brought more people to the cause.

JCUA members celebrate after successfully disrupting the fundraiser.

Why now?

As new coalition members, the action may feel abrupt to JCUA supporters. It’s important to recognize that the decision to disrupt was anything but. The trauma center campaign is five years running. During that time, the coalition has repeatedly attempted to engage with University officials and donors. The university has stonewalled the coalition, only reciprocating engagement on its own terms and in deflective ways.

Our civilly disobedient role models

From the civil right movement to immigrant rights to the AIDS Crisis, activists and organizations secured crucial social justice victories through civil disobedience. JCUA itself may not have come into existence without civil disobedience. After seeing civil rights marchers attacked in Gage Park, JCUA’s founder Rabbi Robert Marx chose to take an active role in civil rights disruption tactics. Rabbi Marx did not come to this decision lightly. In a letter to the Jewish Federation, Marx wrote,

“Some of you will accuse me of helping to create violence. To this, I respond that I am not inciting to violence, but rather it is those who prohibit free men from peacefully marching who do the inciting.”

Martin Luther King after being hit by a rock during a march through Gage Park in 1966.

Rabbi Marx took a position that many considered abrasive, confrontational, and inappropriate. In doing so, he crossed over a line that landed him on the right side of history. We have an opportunity to carry JCUA’s origins into 2015 and take bold stances for righteous and necessary change. May our disruption bring a trauma center to the University of Chicago.

]]>https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/why-we-disrupted-the-university-of-chicagos-fundraiser/feed/0jcuablogSun Times PhotoMarch 5th disruptorsMartin Luther King after being hit by a rock during a march through Gage Park in 1966.Emily Chaleff: Opening My Eyeshttps://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/emily-chaleff-opening-my-eyes/
https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/emily-chaleff-opening-my-eyes/#commentsTue, 03 Mar 2015 15:00:09 +0000http://jcuanews.wordpress.com/?p=7147]]>

Editor’s Note: “On a Just Path” is a series of stories about former JCUA employees, where they are now and the impact JCUA had on them. Interviews were conducted and edited by Nathaniel Seeskin, AVODAH Organizing Fellow at JCUA.

Emily Chaleff

Q. Tell us about your time at JCUA.

A. I worked at JCUA from 1998-2000 and I was the Director of the Associate Division.

Q. What was special about working here?

A. There was so much that was so special – working at JCUA confirmed my commitment to working in the Jewish community, and it opened my eyes to the effects and complexities of poverty, bigotry and racism in Chicago and elsewhere. I have so many memories – There are two that stand out the most:

I was planning a program with the leadership council at Cabrini-Green, I believe it was a financial education course. We planned the course for a Sunday afternoon. I took a taxi from my apartment in Lakeview and the taxi driver didn’t want to take me to Cabrini. He told me it wasn’t safe for me, and once I did convince him to drive me there, he wouldn’t leave until I found the individuals I was working with. It raised so many questions for me – this was the home to so many Chicagoans, and yet the cab driver, however well-intentioned, did not believe it was okay for me to go there in the middle of the day on a Sunday – why is it okay for some people to live in certain conditions, and not others? I learned so much about the meaning of community from the people we worked with and for in public housing. Up until then, the buildings around Chicago were these foreboding, almost mythological edifices, but when you actually knew residents, worked with them, one quickly realized that the depths of the community bonds were intense, and that when those buildings came down, important communities were separated from each other. It was so apparent, and heartbreaking, to learn in real time how some communities “matter”, and others are taken for granted, or not valued at all. I was proud that a Jewish organization was working and advocating with this community to say “it matters”.

Another memory was when I had the incredible privilege to represent the JCUA on a 10-day trip commemorating the 35th anniversary of the deaths of Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman. The trip was organized by the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and the Earl Chaney Foundation (Earl was James Chaney’s brother). The trip was for African-Americans and Jews to come together and commemorate the deaths of the activists, and to explore the current status of civil rights, as well as Black/Jewish relationships today. It was an incredibly intense experience. I could write a feature-length article about it but here are some of my quick memories of the trip:

We were in Jackson, MS and three young black men from our group were randomly stopped and searched by police at 8:00 PM – they were just getting a candy bar at the gas station across the street from our hotel.

We went to the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, which is just across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church that was bombed, and is also now a museum. I walked about three blocks off the central square of Birmingham and it was like stepping back in time, the city was so segregated.

In Mississippi, we drove through the backwoods of Meridian, where the boys were murdered, and it was mind-boggling. With large black families still living in ramshackle homes, it was clear very little had changed because there was so much poverty and segregation. Even at James Chaney’s grave, there is STILL vandalism today. It was hard to see.

Going to Selma and walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge – knowing that Rabbi Marx and other Jews from Chicago had marched in Selma, it was inspiring and heartbreaking.

Q. What impact did your work at JCUA have in the community?

A. I think the programs we did brought members of the Jewish community, just like me, into areas we had never been – Englewood, Cabrini, Robert Taylor (public housing was a huge part of the work at that time) – we met people and were able to put names and faces with statistics. It makes a big difference on informing a perception of what we saw on the news.

Q. How did your experience at JCUA impact what you do now?

A. It impacted me tremendously. I have worked in the Jewish community ever since my time at JCUA. JCUA emboldened my commitment to social justice, and open my eyes to the Jewish community’s responsibility to be a voice and advocate for justice. I was the first site director for AVODAH: the Jewish Service Corps in Chicago and my experience at the JCUA prepared me for that position, and helped me to find my own voice. I met amazing people – too many to mention, but they all are inspiring leaders – Jane Ramsey, Lew Kreinberg, Rabbi Robert Marx, Rabbi Bruce Elder, Rabbi Herman Schaalman…the Board presidents at the time – Bud Lifton, Nikki Stein, Steve Keen – the Board members were not afraid to be an unpopular voice in the Jewish community and that has always stuck with me. The Board members were deeply connected to Jewish life, and to being a Jewish voice for justice. They became mentors to me, and while living out of state does not allow me to connect with people on a regular basis, the lay leaders and professionals I worked with at JCUA continue to inspire me today.

Emily (Rosenberg) Chaleff has worked in the Jewish community for almost 20 years – first at JCUA, then Nextbook, and AVODAH: the Jewish Service Corps. Most recently she completed a 7-year tenure as executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine – the regional office of JCC/Federation/Jewish Family Services. She lives in Portland, ME with her husband Stanley, her two sons Gideon (3 yrs old) and Asher (11 months), and her loyal dog Phoebe (8 yrs old).

►Want to bring Or Tzedek to your community? Contact Deborah Goldberg, Coordinator of Teen Programs at deborah@jcua.org or
312-663-0960 x124
►Registration for Or Tzedek Summer 2015 is open! For more information, visitwww.jcua.org/ortzedek.

By Deborah GoldbergCoordinator of Teen Programs

Two weeks ago, JCUA partnered with Chicagoland Jewish High School on a three day advocacy and social justice retreat for members of their junior class. By the end of the time we spent together, we’d met with Jewish clergy throughout Chicago, learned about gun violence in the city, heard from young activists fighting for a Level 1 Adult Trauma Center at the University of Chicago, learned basic community organizing skills, examined systems of oppression, practiced our advocacy skills, prepared presentations on gun violence prevention legislation, advocated for that legislation in 5 state legislators’ in-district offices and in meetings with both Senator Kirk’s and Senator Durbin’s Chicago staffers, and reflected on the Jewish imperative to build a just world. It was an empowering (and exhausting!) three days.

“My legislator asked me questions about my views as if I were an adult!”

One of the many reasons I love JCUA is because we are constantly looking for ways to empower teens to be advocates and activists for positive social change. We know that teens’ voices and power are an important part of building a more just Chicago. For me, one of the highlights of the three days we spent together was hearing teens after they’d met with their elected official. Before our meetings, teens said things like, “Does it really make a difference when we meet with state legislators?” and “They won’t listen to me, I’m just 16.” After our meetings, teens said things like, “The person I met with took notes on what I was saying because he wanted to repeat it to his boss!” and “My legislator asked me questions about my views as if I were an adult!”

Teens from CJHS meet State Senator Daniel Biss as part of their three-day Or Tzedek retreat.

Advocating for just policies and legislation to state and federal legislators is one small part of social justice work. This retreat gave students a chance to practice the skill of advocacy, as well delve deeper into understanding social justice issues. Many of the students mentioned that the retreat made them think differently about how they ‘do’ Jewish social justice, and gave them new found advocacy skills, lessons that will hopefully be used again soon.

The participants visited Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken to hear Rabbi Capers Funnye speak about Jews and the Civil Rights movement, gun violence and systemic inequality, and some of his personal story as a rabbi of Chicago’s premier Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation.

The Torah lays out all the mitzvot (commandments) we should follow to build a holy community. The prophets demand that we “defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the orphan; plead the case of the widow” and disparage us when we don’t (Isaiah 1:17). The rabbis of the Talmud discussed and debated religious law to better understand how to craft just cities and create a just world. I don’t think any of our ancient predecessors could have imagined a group of 40 energetic, passionate young people advocating for gun violence prevention policies as a part of their understanding of Jewish social justice, but I think they’d be proud. Here at JCUA, I know we definitely are.

February 18, 2015, marked the long-awaited ground breaking for the redevelopment of the historic Rosenwald Building in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood. Gathered together in a small, heated tent at the site, Alderman Pat Dowell emceed the event as long-time community members, the development team and supporters celebrated this momentous occasion.

Through its Community Ventures Program, JCUA provided a zero-interest, pre-development loan of $100,000 in the early stages of the project. JCUA invested in this project at a time when others would not, in part because of a longstanding feeling of connection to the neighborhood. As Julius Rosenwald, the original developer, once was inspired to invest in supporting and creating quality affordable housing and vibrant retail, so too was JCUA when approached by the new developer, Landwhite, in 2012. To learn more about the project, visit JCUA’s earlier blog post.

Once complete, the newly renovated Rosenwald Apartments will have 239 one and two-bedroom units of senior and family affordable housing, two-acres of usable courtyard green space, as well as 40,000 square feet of retail and office space along 47th Street. This development will serve as a major catalyst for other redevelopment opportunities throughout Bronzeville and JCUA is proud to be a part of making this project possible. This once iconic, bustling hot spot in Bronzeville is finally getting the much needed attention it deserves to revive this community anchor, as it was in its glory days.

JCUA Executive Director, Judy Levey, JCUA Manager of Community Building, Sarah Gold, and Community Ventures Program Advisory Council member Ralph Brown attended the event, along with long-time JCUA supporter Peter Ascoli.

JCUA salutes the late community activist and friend Bobbie Johnson, whose tireless work to save the Rosenwald is no longer just a dream.

]]>https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/rosenwald-courts-recipient-of-jcua-community-ventures-loan-celebrates-groundbreaking/feed/0jcuablogFrom Left: David Roos, Landwhite Developers LLC, Peter Ascoli, grandson of Julius Rosenwald, and Judy Levey, Exec. Dir. of JCUARabbi David Russo and JCUA Member Stacey Flint Testify on Behalf of Workers’ Rightshttps://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/rabbi-david-russo-and-jcua-member-stacey-flint-testify-on-behalf-of-workers-rights/
https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/rabbi-david-russo-and-jcua-member-stacey-flint-testify-on-behalf-of-workers-rights/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 19:08:09 +0000http://jcuanews.wordpress.com/?p=7254]]>Last week, the Cook County board voted overwhelmingly to pass one of the nation’s toughest wage theft laws. JCUA leaders provided testimony in support of the legislation. These statements by Stacey Flint and Rabbi David Russo reinforce the importance of workers rights in Jewish values and in the Jewish community.

‘We Are All Responsible.’

Testimony by Rabbi David Russo, Anshe Emet Synagogue

Every week, Jews around the world read from the Torah. And in this coming week [Feb. 9-13], we will all read a particular verse from the Book of Exodus (22:21-22):

Rabbi David Russo

כָּל־אַלְמָנָה וְיָתוֹם לֹא תְעַנּוּן

You shall not afflict any widow, or orphaned child.

אִם־עַנֵּה תְעַנֶּה אֹתוֹ

If you afflict them in any way,

כִּי אִם־צָעֹק יִצְעַק אֵלַי

If they cry to me,

שָׁמֹעַ אֶשְׁמַע צַעֲקָתוֹ

I God will surely hear their cry.

Rabbinic tradition asserts that the Bible is identifying afflictions not only of a specific group of people, i.e. widows or orphans, but any teshushei koach, anyone who is weak, who is vulnerable (Rashi).

And Jewish tradition emphasizes that God will not only bring consequences upon the people inflicting the damage – but that if people are aware of the injustice, and they do nothing, then the punishment is upon the entire community (Ibn Ezra).

We all are responsible.

As a Cook County consumer, and more importantly as a Cook County community member, this legislation allows me to ensure that I and our entire community are following this biblical imperative of ensuring the rights of the vulnerable, rather than crushing them.

We are ensuring that we can all make purchasing decisions that meet our values.

We are ensuring that our tax credits are supporting businesses that support their workers, rather than take from them.

This ordinance ensures that businesses will pay the wages guaranteed to their workers.

God, thank you for this opportunity to celebrate this ordinance.

And may we the words of Exodus ring in our ears today as it did thousands of years ago to those Israelite slaves who escaped the bondage of Egypt – that we all are responsible to ensure that we look out for the stranger, that we look out for the vulnerable, that we support others in our community – rather than knock them down. Amen.

‘Wage theft not only steals from workers, but from all of Cook County.’

Testimony by JCUA Member Stacey Flint

Stacey Flint

Good morning Honorable Commissioners of Cook County. My name is StaceyFlint. I stand before you today as a representative of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and a homeowner from the 9th district of Cook County. I am here in support of the passage of the Anti-Wage Theft Ordinance.

Jewish values teach us: “Do not oppress or rob your neighbor; specifically, you are not to keep back the wages of a hired worker all night until morning.” In addition we are taught, “On his day you should give his wages, the sun should not set on it, because he is a poor man and his life depends on it…”

Why does a worker’s life depend on timely payment of wages you may ask? A worker represents a household. A household requires the basics to function: food, shelter, clothing, health, etc. Deprived of wages, a person unable to provide for oneself or one’s households with these basic needs is left desperate. Heaven forbid they may even be pushed to break divine or civil laws. Industries that do not pay workers are not only thieves themselves; they promote lawlessness.

Employers who do not pay workers cause an overload to Cook County’s fragile safety net as unpaid workers may increase the burden on the county’s public safety and social services. Between 2000 and 2011, Cook County’s poverty rate increased from 13.5 percent to 15.8 percent, leaving us with the highest poverty rate in the region. Currently, Cook County’s FY 2015 budget shows deficits in several social service line items. Therefore, wage theft not only steals from workers, but from all of Cook County.

As a tax paying citizen of Cook County, I want to us to support industries that are ethical in their treatment of workers, and thereby, worthy of tax breaks and county contracts. When Cook County passes the Anti-Wage Theft ordinance, it represents a stance for ethical business and financial prudence.

]]>https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/rabbi-david-russo-and-jcua-member-stacey-flint-testify-on-behalf-of-workers-rights/feed/0jcuablogRabbi David RussoStacey FlintJustice Pursued – A Week of Victorieshttps://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/justice-pursued-a-week-of-victories/
https://jcuanews.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/justice-pursued-a-week-of-victories/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 19:04:49 +0000http://jcuanews.wordpress.com/?p=7229]]>In January, JCUA members committed to two organizing campaigns. This week, we took action on both campaigns and celebrated watershed milestones for worker justice.

Golan’s Strikers Victorious

For six months, workers at Golan’s Moving and Storage have been on strike. The owners at Golan’s regularly committed wage theft by requiring employees to work unpaid hours and to pay a ‘deposit’ when promoted. Unable to get the owners to renegotiate a fair contract, the workers went on strike. After six months, their persitance has paid off! The strike has ended, a new contract has been written, and people are back at work, as new members of Teamsters Local 705. Mazel tov to the Golan’s workers for the win and to our community partner Arise Chicago for their perseverance in this crucial fight for economic justice.

Want to celebrate the win? Join Arise Chicago and the Golan’s workers for a victory party on Sunday, March 1.

Historic Anti-Wage Theft Legislation Passes

‘The Torah commands, ‘You shall not oppress your fellow. You shall not rob. The hired worker’s wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning (Leviticus 19:13).’ Our values clearly compel us to protect workers’ rights. We are proud to stand against wage theft and urge Cook County to pass this ordinance.’

Trauma Center Coalition Makes Their Campaign An Election Issue

Members of the Trauma Center Coalition demonstrated outside of the mayoral candidates forum on Tuesday. Before the debate, coalition activists held a mock ribbon-cutting ceremony for the “People’s Obama Library”, which includes a trauma center. The purpose of the action was to press the University and the mayor to respond to the community’s need for a level 1 adult trauma center. Several community, student, and faith groups comprise the Trauma Center Coalition -including JCUA.